The hot game by a Chinese company called, Mira Game, takes mmorpgs (massively multiplayer online role-playing games) to a new level, by creating their English version of a Chinese game, Talisman Online. Talisman Online is certainly able to be compared with WoW (World of Warcraft) but different elements such as the quest system, leveling system, chat system and many more, make Talisman Online unique. The game is still generally new as it was released in late 2007 but is being more widely known through frequent updates, different graphic quality upgrades and providing more game features. A huge bonus is that Talisman Online is completely free to play with no monthly fees. Talisman is a fantasy world but with human like features, once again similar to World Of Warcraft’s interface.

Talisman Online like most other mmorpg games does have a simple plot, to start off the journey. In the ancient orient, there is a peaceful and serene continent. The people there live and work in peace and contentment. Their families are kept there generation by generation. However, an evil power is preparing to come out behind the peaceful surface. After collecting energy for the past thousand years, the evil power finally became a huge monster that is called Master Blood on Blood Palace. Master Blood began to slaughter human beings and other living things in order to strengthen his power. He enhanced himself by absorbing their souls. At that time, the whole world was full of blood and fear. People became destitute and homeless. The beautiful and peaceful continent became a hell which was full of corpses.

However, the justice must exist where there is depravity. The great rabbi Master Tian Meng, who came from the north, contacted with all the righteous forces to suppress Master Blood and his evil minions who were increasing in strength day by day. This battle had lasted about one hundred days, and the two sides were hurt badly. At last, Master Tian Meng and his four accomplices fought with Master Blood on Blood Mountain. The decisive battle lasted for five days, and Master blood was defeated by Master Tian Meng's witchcraft called Heaven Ice, and was sealed in a block of one-thousand year ice cube. This ice cube was suppressed at the bottom of the deep pool in Green Scarp.

After Master Blood was sealed, people began to rebuild their homestead. And the whole continent gradually returned to peace and harmony. Due to the experience of this battle with evil, Master Tian Meng and his accompanies in this battle decided to create their own juntas and accepted lots of apprentices in order to increase the force of justice. Thus, Monk, Wizard, Fairy, Tamer and Assassin, those five juntas were created one by one. The force of justice became stronger and stronger. Nevertheless, after five hundred years, the ice cube which was at the bottom of the deep pool in Green Scarp disappeared suddenly. As a result of this, different kinds of evil ghosts and monsters continually appeared. The evil breath suffused gradually. What had happened? Did Master Blood resurge, or was a new monster born? The five righteous juntas made the appointment to act together to find out the truth.

The story is continued by players making their own characters and growing stronger.

The features that make Talisman Online stand out would have to be the auto-walk feature, equipment enhancing, combining system, chat system and the simplicity of the inventory. Many other details such as weapon skills, guild system and the graphics/interface have been almost completely copied from other games, but have been appropriately modified to fit in with the nature of Talisman Online.

Every character has slots for armour, amulets, rings and most importantly a weapon and two assistant talismans. These assistants are not weapons but provide skills unique to each class. For example a wizard has a skill to heighten its defense for a certain amount of time. For these skills to grow stronger you need to “enhance” these with energy gained from finishing quests and killing monsters. There are 5 slots for the armour section the chest, armguard, cuff, kneepad, belt and boots. There are two sections for the amulets and two slots for rings. Each piece of armour, rings, amulets, weapons and assistants will have different stats according to their rarity, so every player will be different. The simple chat system is also a big bonus. It consists of five areas; Normal, World, Team, Friend and Guild. Each area of chat is mainly used for a different purpose.

The auto-walk is the main feature that makes Talisman Online an original game. When accepting a quest, it can be found by clicking on an auto-route function. This is helpful as it is more convenient and helps beginners learn the world map better.

In most other classic mmorpgs, getting “stronger” would involve upgrading gears according to the game’s system, but Talisman Online provides a more complex but also very simple and understandable system.

Firstly, all weapons, armours and assistant talismans, range from a rarity of white – green – blue – purple and golden, white being the most common and golden/purple being the rarest. The chances of looting these items are completely random.

The combining system involves using rubies, for armour and emeralds, for weapons. The rank of weapons and armour goes to +10, the higher the better. +1~+3 involves using small rubies/emeralds, the success rate of these ranks are high. +3~+6 involves using medium rubies/emerald, the success rate of these ranks are medium. +7~+10 involves using large rubies/emeralds, the success rate of these ranks are extremely low, and other stones are advised to increase the success rate. This is a basic introduction to how the combining and armour system works in Talisman Online, and there is much more to be explored.

Character classes are an important part of any mmorpg. Talisman Online consists of five classes; Tamer, Wizard, Monk, Fairy and an Assassin. These names may have been heard of in many other games, but each class here plays a specific purpose, and has advantages and disadvantages. Furthermore, future updates guarantee a more diverse character choice for Talisman Online players.

This is a brief summary of the characters in Talisman Online:

-Wizard (male/female) - Wizards are masters of the arcane arts. They may have weak defense and low HP but they can deal massive damage with their spells.

-Monk (male) - Monks are the warriors of Talisman Online. They fight with large weapons and inflict heavy blows. Monks have high defense and use stamina for their skills.

-Assassin (male) - Assassins quick melee specialists who have low defense but high attack and dodge rates. Like Monks, Assassins use stamina instead of mana for their skills.

-Fairy (female) - Fairies are a supportive class that possesses healing and buffing spells. Fairies make competent damage dealers as well but suffer from low defense.

-Tamer (female) - The Ranger class, Tamers excels at long ranged combat with their trusty bows. Tamers can persuade creatures of equal or lower level to fight by their side.

All these characters have weaknesses and strengths. In the world of Talisman Online, scenarios, known as caves, involves five players to team up with other people and enter a cave to kill monsters and hard bosses to finish quests. These scenarios are extremely complex and needs good planning for strategies and team organization. Each player that enters a team for a cave will play an important role.

There are many more different issues that can be discussed in the topic of Talisman Online, but most have been covered. The main advantages of the game is that it is free to play and has a more different gaming style that makes Talisman Online unique, but in addition has a simple gameplay that allows players to develop a fast, understanding of the game. Even though some disadvantages of the game may include, a limited number of character customization options, limited number of interface options and a lack of interaction between GMs (Game Masters) and players, Talisman Online as mentioned is still a growing game and should be continued to do so. This game provides a friendly environment for all ages to enjoy, and it is safe from verbal abuse and scams thanks to a well organized support system.

Overall, Talisman Online is a commendable game, that is still new but growing steadily. Despite the addictiveness of the game, it can be enjoyed by all ages that have the ability to understand the game and play it. Out of ten, Talisman Online truly does deserve an eight. Further updates will soon make this game a ten.